Ninth BRICS Parliamentary Forum opens in South Africa

The ninth BRICS Parliamentary Forum chaired by South Africa has kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa. More than 250 parliamentarians from the BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) are taking part in the event.

Konstantin Kosachev, Vice-Speaker of the Russian Federation Council, is leading the Russian delegation.

The forum will work along the lines defined by the leaders of the five countries at the last summit in Johannesburg. It is designed to promote inter-parliamentary cooperation between the BRICS countries in the political, social and economic spheres.

The main objectives of the forum are to strengthen and develop relations between parliamentary chambers, committees and groups of parliamentarians, as well as to enhance collective impact. Next year, the number of BRICS member states will increase to 11 under the chairmanship of Russia, and we need to be prepared for this, said Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Chair of the forum and Speaker of the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) of South Africa.

The main theme of the current South African Parliamentary Forum is "Harnessing multilateralism and parliamentary diplomacy to deepen BRICS and Africa partnership for accelerated implementation of the Africa free-trade agreement".

Key issues on the agenda include the BRICS-Africa partnership, energy of the alliance countries, and strengthening security. It is expected that after the discussions a joint declaration and a memorandum of cooperation will be adopted, and a permanent secretariat of the BRICS parliamentary forum will be established, as reported by TASS.